Dante Alighieri was born in 1265 in Florence. His family, of minor nobility, was not wealthy nor especially distinguished; his mother died when he was a child, his father before 1283. At about the age of 20 he married Gemma Donati, by whom he had three children. Little is known of Dante's formal education-it is likely to have included study with the Dominicans, the Augustinians, and the Franciscans in Florence, and at the university in Bologna. In 1295 he entered Florentine politics and in the summer of 1300 he became one of the six governing Priors of Florence. In 1301, the political situation forced Dante and his party into exile. For the rest of his life he wandered through Italy, perhaps studied at Paris, while depending for refuge on the generosity of various nobles. He continued to write and at some point late in life he took asylum in Ravenna where he completed the Divine Commedia and died, much honoured, in 1321.

Anthony Esolen is a professor of English and a writer in residence at Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts in Warner, New Hampshire. He is a senior editor of Touchstone magazine, and a contributing editor of Crisis and Chronicles. A poet in his own right, Professor Esolen is known for his verse translations of epic poetry, including the three volumes of Dante's Divine Comedy (Random House, Modern Library), Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered (Johns Hopkins), and Lucretius' On the Nature of Things (Johns Hopkins). His sacred work, The Hundredfold: Songs for the Lord, is a book length sacred poem centered on the life of Christ. A noted essayist and social commentator, Anthony Esolen has published books on a broad range topics from literature, to theology, to education and culture, ancient to modern.

Books by Anthony Esolen

On the Nature of Things

(Verse translation of Lucretius’ De rerum natura, with scholarly commentary)

Johns Hopkins, 1995

Jerusalem Delivered

(Verse translation of Tasso's Gerusalemme Liberata, with scholarly commentary)

Johns Hopkins, 2000

Ironies of Faith: The Laughter at the Heart of Christian Literature

ISI, 2007

Inferno (verse translation of Dante’s Inferno)

Random House, Modern Library Edition, 2002

Purgatory (verse translation of Dante's Purgatorio)

Random House, Modern Library Edition, 2003

Paradise (verse translation of Dante's Paradiso)

Random House, Modern Library Edition, 2005

The Beauty of the Word: A Running Commentary on the Roman Missal

Magnificat, 2012

Reclaiming Catholic Social Teaching (treatise on the social teaching of Pope Leo XIII)

Sophia Instute Press, 2014

The Politically Incorrect Guide to Western Civilization

Regnery, 2008

Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of your Child

ISI, 2010

Roman Missal Companion

Magnificat, 2011

Reflections on the Christian Life

Sophia Institute Press, 2012

Living the Days of Advent and the Christmas Season

Paulist Press, 2013

Defending Marriage: Twelve Arguments for Sanity

St. Benedict Press, 2014

Life Under Compulsion: Ten Ways to Destroy the Humanity of Your Child

ISI, 2015

Real Music: A Guide to the Timeless Hymns of the Church

Tan Books, 2016

Angels, Barbarians, & Nincompoops

Tan Books, 2017

Out of the Ashes: Rebuilding American Culture

Regnery, 2017

Nostalgia: Going Home in a Homeless World

Regnery, 2018

No Apologies: How Civilization Depends on the Strength of Men

Regnery, 2022

Defending Boyhood

Tan Books, 2018

How the Church Has Changed the World,

Magnificat, Volume One, 2019; Volume Two, 2020; Volume Three 2022

In the Beginnng Was the Word

Angelico Press, 2021

The Hundredfold: Songs for the Lord

Ignatius, 2018

Peppers

New Poets Series, 1991